RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 596, 26 August 1909, Page 6

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

INTER-ISLAND CONTEST, THE NORTHERN TEAM BADLY BEATEN. A FAST OPEN GAME. * Before over 7000 people the annual intorisland match waa played yesterday afternoon . on the Athletic Park, .which was in, fairly I good order. Among interested spectators were the members of the Sydney University teamj who received a warm welcome. After, an interesting battle South Island, who showed superior combination and .tactics, proved victorious by 19 points to 11 points. The .South Island team waa constituted as follows:— FUL&-BACK. O'Brien (Marlborough). THREE-QUARTERS.: Colvin (BuUer), Fuller (Caifterbury), Fryer (Canterbury). FIVE-EIGHTHS. Weston (Canterbury), Gray (Canterbury). HALF-BACK. ' , t , Burns (Canterbury). . FORWARDS. ' Rodgers (South Canterbury), Blight (West Coast), Corbott (Buller), Miles (Southland), Paton (Otago), Patterson . (Otago), : ' Sotheran (West Coast),'and Ridland , . . (Southland). \ .The personnel of the team representing tho North Island was as follows:— FULL-BACK. \ Meuli (Wanganui). ■ THREE-QUARTERS M'Gregor- (Auckland),' Wilson (Wellington)- . v ; : Cameron (Taranaki). ' FIVE-EIGHTHS Mitc,hinion (Wellington), O'Leary (Auckland) HALF-B \CK Green (Wellington). . FORW VRDS Wilkes (Auckland),.. .Ready (Wellington), • Herring (Auckland), Francis (Auckland), Milne, (Wanganui), Tamu (Taranaki), Waddel (Auckland), and Bruce (Wel;v. I lington). ' THE CAME DESCRIBED. ' First Spell. , Winning the toss, Aorth Island elected to play during the hrst half with the wind and sun at their backs. There -Were, at the outset;; a .number, of exchanges .between ' the backs, which, did not result ih any material advantage :to either' "side.- ; Then followod a .short «rush by the Northern pack into ;the South Island twenty-five,' but the invasion was quickly repelled. It was at this . stase that the / Southern rearguard showed their undoubted superiority over the i Northern baoks. By means of fast accurate passes, out went the ball to the centre, Fuller, who, after making a capital opening, forged straight ahead at top speed. Colvin, to whom he passed, carried playJntothe ■ Nortbeniers.' twenty-five, .where he',Was thrown into touch... .Not -.long .. afterwards Fuller again broke away, and passed opportunely to Fryer, who simply galloped through peveral Northerners' .and' -scored vbehihd ;the posts... Weston made,.no mistake; with:/the kick; ■ • ■' ■ ; South Island . ..; ... 5 points. North Island ... ... Nil. Upon. tho resumption'of play, the Northern pack-' exerted itself i somewhat,. but the "rush which .it, initiated , was throught, to,-an , end'by Westorf marking cloverly. As the Southern pack-was cmaking- up,;,the lost ground, Milne availed himself of an opportunity to ; pick up and pass.to his backs, who, however, were on tlus occasion prevented from getting properly into motion. Then followed a'brief passing rush by the Northern'rearguard; which seemed quite off-colour and ."disjointed" compared _ with .their .'opponents., Securing the ball in tho looso,' Bruce sent. 1 it on to O'Leary, and, after it had been handled by jlitohinson, it went. to : Cameron, who was brought down ,by Burns;,after O'Brien had steadied him not. far from, the Southerners' line. Fuller.was now instrumental in;shifting the sceno of play by kicking straight up the field, which enabled -Fryer by ; iaat following-up -to present M'Gregor' from get- ' ting in his . retum. During x the ; next ' few minutes onlookers again ' saw the Southern fliers handling the ball - in ■ rare ;style, ,and it was .only clever defence that;, stopped . them fromy scoring By;a long kick Cameron now removed operations to.; the Southerners' eiid, : 'where Tamu was prominent, and ultimately tJiel Southern team were . compelled to force 1 down. Following upon a mark 1 by O'Leary; the Northerners ■ again. entered the Southern 25, and. ' but-for the fact'that Bruce. lost the . ball the Northerners might have scored at this stage, i From one of several scrums which now took place in the Southerners' 25 Green sent the ball out cleanly, but when Mitchinson's .turn came to pass Fuller gained possession' and, ihitiatea a rush which cleared. ; the Southerners' territory. Almost immedi- ' .ately'tho Southern team-were' again 'on the defensive' as a result of a long kick ' into touch. ' Subsequent to the line-out there was a scramble, in the course:-of ' which O'Brien failed to' save, and owing to Fuller (who also went 'to tho rescue) falling, Waddell registered, the,. Northerners' first scoreO'Leary a 'but unsuccessful attempt to convert.

• South Island ... ~.. 5 points. North Island' ... 3 points.'. During the remaining port of the spell play was fast and strenuous. Paton had a shot at' goal from halfway, but the ball was charged, down. What' looked like the' nucleus of * a North. Island. forward: rush'was stopped in good style by O'Brien marking. There then followed/ a rush such as is too seldom seon. j Led by Miles, the South' Island pack broke away from halfway with the hafl at' thefe/toes;- ' -Before they got to the- Northerners' line: they, were joined by" most: of , then;';. backs,: among whom whs 1 Fryer, ; who gathered up the ball; and; darting ahead, had no dilllculty in'scoring. Baton made a meritorious,. 1 but'"l, unsuccessful, attempt to enhance the score.'

'■. South. Island- ~' ...• ..,. N 8 points. :North Island 3 points. Soon ,after the kick' out the ball went over the line) ; but Fryer)' instead . of ' passing, - or '. Peking, .'into tonoh.: on .his own • side, raced across: the field, and passed to Fuller, who kicked out close to half-way. It was not long before, the. .-South;: Island rearguard again gave a glimpse of' their quality. Burns/ omitting Fuller, sent tlio ball to Fryer, who passed in again to Fuller, wbo, however,; did not succeed in . breaking through'this, time.:, Owing. to one of the. Northern forwards being off-side; the South Island team was awarded a.free-kick, which Woston 1 turned to, account amid loud applause. • ■ ~ ■ South Island ... 11 points. North Island ■ ... 3 points: " For the remaining few minutes", .-of tlie; spell play , was principally confined to the 1 packs. Just before the bell went; however, Golvin broke away in capital style, but ho passed forward to Burns when in a good position. .' V. Second Spell. Owing to an injury .to his leg, . Grey re tired .from the South Island team at halftime, and' the Southern, backs- were re-, arranged as follow:—Colvin (centre), Fuller (outside five-eighth), and M. Ryan, emergency (on, the right' wing)..; For- the first few minutes, good; forward, play was witnessed. Francis and :Tamu were very prominent /oh one occasion for -the Northerners in the'loose. .With'respiect to the lineouts; the .Southerners were ever, in.-the ascendanoy, Patterson • and Pa ton' being a host in themselves. From the loose, the ball went out to M'Gregor, who enabled Green to'show his elusiveness. A'little later Green was again conspicuous by charging down O'Brien's kick, and carrying play wofl into the Southerners' territory. From a scrum,' which took place close / to thu Southerners' line, the ball came out on the Northerners' siao. Several of tha North

Island pack handled the oval at . close quarters, and then it went to Mitchinson, who enabled Francis to drop over near tho corner on the blind side. O'Leary kicked an unmistakable goal. South Wand . ... ... 11 points. ■ North. Island ... 8 points! Play had hardly been resumed when Fuller made a brilliant .opening, and passed to Fryer, who had little difficulty in getting over the line. Paton kicked a meritorious goal. ' South Island- ... ... 16 points. North-Island ... B.points. Next camo. some further forward play of a rather strenuous character. Owing to a Southerner the Northern' team scciired a free-kick, which , was "successfully taken by O'Leary. South Island. ... ... 16 points. ' North Island ... 11 points, t Give-and-take play, followed for some time, but the. puce began to slacken. There was then some lOxcitement, for it was seen that Cameron had got away, but Puller oollarcd

him effectively. . Then the, South Island forwards ..carried ':play' into - the Northerners', twenty-five. - Green;, who ■secured:, from-a scrum, kicked up the field' to O'Brien, who potted unsuccessfully. •' .From', half-way the Southern rearguard started a fine rush-which failed to break -tho defence. Upon the next occasion that they adopted passing' tactics, they were assisted by their forwards, but,although' the ball passed through - many hands, not much' ground -was gained. During the' next minute or' two the North Island forwards/.made fair headway,, but. were ultimately repulsed in a. manner-which- brought to' mind a memorable' New Zealand (forward rush in the ■ seoond what' they would, the -Northern';:back's, could not get moving, 'for : the South Island -backs seemed to' be übiquitous. v , Gradually-the Siutherners'pressed play back, and, , from a scfamblo, Patterson'; got over the lino. Weston allowed too much for the - wind, ' , v South Island ...,; ... 19 points. "; ' : ... ll points. ' During' the remainder of the game, the South Islanders were content to take things

easy. . Once Weston initiated a.rush, but, as Fuller, to whom he passed, was. surrounded by, opponents,', the Northerners had little_ difficulty in averting a score.,' The. final incident; related to.a,, rush started by Cameron, who," upon'. being tackled, transferred : to several forwards who- were following up. , but the South Island tackling was of'• .the. deadly order. Shortly, afterwards,.' the bell went, with the scores unaltered', and as follow:— • - South Island ; ... 19 points. ' North Island ; . ... ...11 points. 1 Mr. E/ M'Eenzie officiated as referee. VIEWS OF THE REFEREE. ; The referee (Mr. E. M'Kenzie). told a Dominion reporter that not very much could be said about the match. There could be no doubtj but that the North Island backs were badly beaten by the South Island rearguard. It would also be admitted, he thought, that the South Island pack were superior all round to, the North Island forward division. He considered , that the quality, of play, especially that;.shown by the Ndrth Island team, was not quite up to-expectations.. Most of the North Island backs appeared to him to be playing much bolow form, whilst thero was not much wmbioatioii aooag thnm.

RESULT OF PREVIOUS MATCHES. The following is a record of tho interlsland matches, played:— ■•Tear.' Place. -."Won..', Score. J897 Wellington N.I. 16 to 3 1002 Wellington S.I. 20 to 11 1003 Auckland S.I. 12 to 5 1901 Dunedin Drawn ■ 3 all 3'SSt : Wellington . N.I. .26t0 0 1906 Wellington N.L ' 9 to 5 1907 Christchurch N.I. 11 to 0 1908 Wellington N.I. 12 to 5 NOTES ON THE GAME. NORTHERNERS AN INFERIOR TEAM". (By "Off-side Mac.") North Island Rugby is usually regarded as being superibr' to : that'of the South, and consequently there were few people who gave the visitors a chance of winning yesterday. Win they did, however,' aiid that ■ right through, the game—right from Fryer's' brilliant , try, fout; minutes after the kick-off. I The Southorn. backs opened' out with; a I

cHeeiW. impetuosity; and • dash,.' which. was a 'p&bitive'-, tonicA to. • the.'spectators. • : . -.Fuller (possibly t!idHiosfc-'attrßctivcly. aggressive back on the'ground), and ; Fryer .seemed, in tlie first sueil, to be.fitted with some,nevertiring infernal' motive power, and,"' being rod -splendidly by. Burns (with an occasional hand_ from .Wcston), .they, repeatedly. : made the. Northern backs look -like a second- fifteen playing against a team, of champions; The fcouthern forwards j bigger and faster, than their opponents, played -a' very fine game. They showed the most condition, followed .up and - tackled- better--than-, the - Northerners, got' possession oftener, - heeled out •. more quickly, and; finally, at the end of the game, they-,, swept ~ the Blacks' along - the field: like flies, before a- brush.. Summed 'up,' the Southerners were-the better combination in every, department ■ of, ;tbe: game. " Their vie- ! tory. by' an- eight._i>pint. ~niargili,' is their third .and most decisive .win since the. inau-' guration of the matches twelve years- ago.

A Croat Northorn Woaknoss< •Tho chief, excuse which no doubt will be

iput forward' in- extenuation' of the Northern•jers' defeat, is that - there were; backs in- their [rearguard, who were.; .placing out of their places. Mitchinson replaced Morse as. a five'eighths—a position for which' he is maniifestly unfitted—while O'Leary was/selected 'as another five-eighths., O'Leary has;-played ;s°me fine games, in Auckland, but not as 'a' five-eighths, and," one-' can/.easily., see how the superiority of-: the Canterbury combination was so manifest against, a back- division in tho' arrangement, of which somebody blundored badly. ; In fact, with few, exceptions, the Northern backs played like : a -rabble, , and, in the last- stages pf the match,' there iwas_. seen the spectacle. of- tjib. briUiant''Taranaki champion, Cameron, attempting vainly to win the game by himself. It reminded one of Balch s effort in 1894 for New Zealand against Now South Wales at Christchurch. Another weakness of the Northerners was that they were, captained by a forward in the scrum. Tho Patchy Northern Van. Tho patchiness, which was ro evident, .amongst the Northern; -. backs, . seemed also to afflict the forwards. The men were too jtrange to each other,■ and, so far as packing n scrum was concerned, they were at sixes and sevens'nearly ■ all the' time, l«ty 'fflado a had showing. MUao (pivot;

and the front-rankers, Ready and Herring wore disappointing in their efforts, and Tamu, who was in the rear rank,- had clearly not played often enough in that position. Iu loose play,' the men did not, appear to got going properly, and their efforts wore a marked contrast to those of Patterson, Paton and' Miles of the South Island team, who played .very • dashing games.' The General Northern Rabble, .It was seen a quarter of an hour- from the kick-off that nothing, but a "spirit phenomena" or "apports," or a miracle cou'd prevent the North from losing. Rather pitiful they looked—a disjointed scrum and patchy backs, Greon at half attempting a one-man game, Wilkes at wing-forward, no game at all; Meuli, a second-rato 'full-back; M'Gregor, a novice in ; tho three-quarter division; and Mitchinson and O'Leary out of their ■ places',, and playing as'if'they. wero not enjoying thq 'outing—with 'all .this -'the wonder, is that the South did-not win by thirty points'instead, of eight.At: tho ,'ond of the first spell) when the score stood 11 to 3, it really looked as if the. South would

Win/By thirty' points, .; The.' North ' Island, maaa' a better, start-in -tho'second ialf;when: I 1 a try,, a try l in the first.'ten minutes, but the fact that! the'-South'held trumps all tho timo was evident •,when the dashing Fryer got over four minutes: later, and the .manner in which they forced 'tho game at' will. A Southern Weakness. , , , In' the.'latter stages tho Southerners were obtaining possession twice out of three times. and 1 it''Was then that<their backs disclosed one decided weakness, r Burns, at;half, persisted in the same old ■ style of ', pass-out,-.notwithstanding the faci that-ihe Northern' backs had divined ' this bit ; of : tho game, and' were .smothering their' opponents as: soon asthey; got; 'tie leather.., In .the circumstances Barns and liis'men might have 'shown some initiative, j That 'they did not; do so was the only' blemish upon an otherwise very, very, attractive game; ' The', game was open and:at times very fast. In fact, principally through the greyhound, runs of Fuller , and .Fryer on the one side and Cameron

,on the other Bide, tho pace ' was • terrifio in the-first fifteen minutes of tho game.,'ln the second half the play was much slower, and at' times. both', teams were nearly at. a 'standstill. South Team summed Up. ' Coming, to individual : piay,;. '•Puller,' who figured at centre-three-quarter . in tho first half, and second five-eighths the second half,; was the : most attractive 'back, on the field. He appeared'to magnetise-the ball, and he ran brilliantly. On each , of the .th'reo . occasions, ; when ; Fryer scored a', try, • it -was Fuller- who supplied most of tilt) powder and shot;'ln .the first spell- with .'Fryer,' ho utterly -' demoralised, the ; Northern- threequarter line. The Canterbury flier had not n i E°.°d grip of tilings in tho second spell, but ho mulled the ball only once during the whole game. His tackling was firstclass, and no kicked well; Fryer, .who seems to have 'gained weight and pace since last season, scored throe tries in .splendid style. With Fuller, he was tho ;most noticeable of tho Southern backs. Ho was not hampered with .any gTcat. opposition but did a lot of fine defensive work. Colvin at wing-three-quarter in the first half, arid eentnvthreo-quarter , in the second spell, played n very good game. ' Weston was what mav Ijo called an "instrumental" fiveeightUs, and ho Meksd a magmiigent penalty,

goal against tho wind. Burns; tho captain of , tho team, pasaod out clciinly and'swiftly from tho; scrum, and ho collared woll. Ho should, liowevor, • havo changcd his game moro in tho socond spoil. O'Brien, a.t fullback, gave a very good performance. <Ityan, of' Nelson, who. wont, on as a . substitute throo-qunrtcr in tho second half, showed up well in good company. Amongst tho forwards, Fattorsori' was the best forward on tho ground, but Paton was not far behind him. Both- theso forwards played ideal games, exoopt that'thoy might have put a littlo moro dash and devil into;, their work. Thoy followed up and tackled untiringly. Ono would like to.see such fins specimens of manhood cultivate more. dribbling, and those tigerish dashes -which were, a feature of the forward play of men liko Ellison, ( Pauling, Seeling,-and Hughes. Paton has possibly earned his inclusion as pivot in- the next New Zealand team. , Miles also played very well. He was in many-rushes, and,' with Patterson and Paton, lie excelled on tho lino-out. Sothoran and Ridlahd 'were noticeable at times, while as front-tankers Blight and Cor- : bott wore apparently the right men in the right place. Rodgers, wing-forward, was not remarkable, for anything in particular. . Tho North .Taken Individually. ' Cameron was. the most brilliant attacking bapk .among tho. Northerners.\ Time and again he made splendid runs, but he. received no support. On the day's play, Cameron, Fuller,, and Fryer are the three 'best three-qua/rter backs in New- Zealand. .Wilsonand MlGreg'or, 1 at centre, and wing-three-quarter . respectively, • were somewhat weak. M Gregor made-the .mistake:.of .leaving- his. vis-a-vis to collar the opposing centre tiireeqnarter, thus letting .Fryer; in'-on. at-least [ while Wilson .did' not appear .to too much dash 1 .yesterday. It is stated that possibly these, two. Aucklanders (with others) were, holding themselves back tor next Saturday's match,..but there 'does; ??.rt ,appea ' r ' . to ' i" contention. M Gregor- showed. a; fast .thrn of speed. U Leary was out of his place, as a, five-eighths and, m_ the attacking: line, he was of : little us© to his team.. He did/some -smart kickmg, however, and liis pennJtyrgoal, against, a. strong, wind from, a different angle, and his converted try, were-distinct: features ofthe • game. Mitchinson also: was ' out of ' his place as five-eighths; • and lie did 'not do himself justice. Green, at, half/ was good in patches, He . >vas too, .selfish, however, and nearly aljvays-seemed! to-seldct the wrong time -to run-. ; with the ball : Yesterday was one of. his bad. days,.and it is evident that he- requires to watch .Roberts a' little- more closely. Meuli was ■ somewhat ineffective as in 11-back, but he collared we]] ; at times. None of the North Island forwards call for any special .mention. . Francis .and 'Waddell were noticeable at, times witK. ; Tamu i( but -none played himself ont. Bruce 1 was fairly 'good in- the loose. -,Jn the front : rank,"Ready and Herring- started fairly, well, but they were bably-; beaten ,by Blight.-, .and; Corbett.- before the' game-wm.-over. . WDkesi wing-forward,. w , a ?., nc 't- u p. to the work. Francis-,■ captain of;'the. Northern team, uaid that' no doubt the; better, team; won.:;'. The Northerners;, however,.- had - not ■ plpyed together, and; some, of ; them wereoiit of their places.; Gallacher'. captain .of; tl;e "AM Blacks," expressed tho opinion, that Mitckmoon at five-eighths, and Milne, at pivot, wero the weak spots in the Northern team, .

.The members , of' the „ Anokland and Wellington representative ■ Bugby. football teams are. to bo present at, the' Bengough,.entertainment .in- the- Gonoert Chamber to-morrow evening.